JOHOR BARU: For the past three years, M. Ariwaran would come home from work to find a dog outside his house, wagging its tail furiously and waiting for a meal.
Their bond began when he found the stray dog which was just a puppy then.
He named it Max after his childhood pet dog which died years ago.
“Max is a stray that lives around this area but almost every night, he would drop by for food,” he said.
There were times when Max would disappear for days.
“But he would always turn up again,” Ariwaran, 27, said in an interview.
Sadly, Max would never return again as he was hit by a pickup truck on May 15.
“It happened just a few streets away from my house. I found out only after seeing a video of it,” said Ariwaran, who works as an animal caretaker at a pet hotel in Singapore.
“I hope a thorough investigation will be carried out. The person involved should be held responsible.”
The video of the accident has been making the rounds on social media, breaking the hearts of those in the neighbourhood who were familiar with the dog.
In the video clip, a red pickup truck was seen speeding past a row of houses before running over the dog in the middle of the road. An injured Max was seen struggling from the impact of the crash before collapsing on the road.
Taxi driver I. Balakrishnan, 69, said he heard about the sad story from his wife and neighbours who witnessed the incident.
“One of my neighbours showed me the photos and videos, which were heartbreaking to watch,” he said.
Balakrishnan, who has been living in the area for 26 years, said the authorities have since been coming to the scene to investigate the matter.
“After the incident went viral, the authorities, including those from the Veterinary Department, came to investigate the matter,” he said.
Another resident, who only wanted to be known as Sabrina, said she was shocked to see the dog bleeding profusely when she got home on May 15.
“There were a lot of people surrounding the dog and trying to help him as he struggled after being hit.
“It was a very sad sight,” said Sabrina, 20, adding that she had not seen the dog before.
Execute AWA (Animal Welfare Act) founder Sue Ann Kong urged the authorities to take the case seriously so that those responsible do not walk away scot-free.
“The public is watching and awaiting justice,” she said.
When contacted, Johor housing and local government committee chairman Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor said the case had been referred to the Veterinary Department.
“The department has opened an investigation under Section 29 of the Animal Welfare Act,” he said.
Mohd Jafni said that under the provision, anyone found guilty of abusing or committing acts of cruelty against an animal may face a fine of between RM20,000 and RM100,000, imprisonment of up to three years, or both.
“As part of the investigation, the department has called in and recorded a statement from the complainant of the case,” he said.
Prior to this, Mohd Jafni had said in a statement on May 20 that the Johor Baru City Council had conducted an internal investigation and found that the individual involved was an employee of a contractor appointed by the council to carry out stray dog control operations.
“A show-cause letter has been issued to the contractor for failing to comply with the SOP and terms of appointment,” he said.
